Vincenzo Montella: We must try to improve ourselves

The Turkish National Football Team was defeated 3-0 away by Belgium in their third match in the UEFA Nations League A, Group 1. Following the match, National Team Head Coach Vincenzo Montella made evaluations at the press conference held.

"Being in League A is actually a privilege, not a crime"

Stating that there was a balanced struggle throughout the match, Montella said, "When you look at it in general, it was a balanced match statistically. Unfortunately, you cannot make mistakes in football at this level. When you make a mistake, opponents do not easily forgive those errors. I think we only made mistakes in the first half of the Italy match in terms of mentality so far. Our players showed a reaction in this match as well and put up a great fight; they were in the game from start to finish. We are testing ourselves at this level every three days. Being in League A is actually a privilege, not a crime. Therefore, we need to try to improve ourselves and do our best. Let's not blame our players in any way here. Because there are different levels in football, and League A is such a level," he said.

"The absence of our missing players is felt deeply"

The Italian coach, who said that there are important absences in the team, stated, "Our team is in complete unity. Of course, we have absences, we have very important absences. Their absence is felt deeply; as you know, players like Hakan, Kerem, and Orkun are missing. Furthermore, the absence of Mert Müldür is also significant for us. Perhaps he is one of the players who has started the most in the first 11. I don't want to pay too much attention to the current criticisms. Because I know that we went to the World Cup after 24 years with these players. We reached the League A level with these players, and we played in the European Championship together with these players. Therefore, we are currently going through a period where we test ourselves every three days, see our own level, and of course, see all the details we need to improve. These are also a preparation for all the work we need to do in the future," he said.

"We could have been clearer in our final decisions"

Expressing that they created many opportunities in the Belgium match, Montella said, "I believe that our team tried until the end and fought hard. We actually created many opportunities. We played an equal match with our opponent. In fact, we touched the ball 40 times in the opponent's penalty area, while our opponents did so 26 times. Unfortunately, in football, when you cannot score and cannot finish the actions, and the opponents score, the result is not what you want. We have a unity in our players that builds the game structure, fights until the end, and carries the struggle against the opponent from the first minute to the last. When we see these, when we see what they are trying to do, of course, we are just proud of them. Because they fought until the end. But sometimes the opposing team can be superior in certain details. If we had made clearer decisions in the final moments, we could have come away with a very different score. But unfortunately, it happened this way today. Our opponents were a step ahead of us in that regard," he expressed.

"I am ready to work harder than ever"

Touching upon the rising expectations in the recent period, the 52-year-old coach said, "We have raised expectations a lot with our last three years. It is very natural for our fans not to be satisfied right now. They can, of course, share their thoughts with us. But I can only say this clearly: I am very motivated and I am ready to work harder, more than ever. Because I know football well. We will make our preparations in the best way possible. Our concentration is entirely on all the matches we will play; I am not thinking about anything else," he said.

"We know that we represent our country with full responsibility"

Speaking about Barış Alper Yılmaz and Arda Güler becoming suspended for the Italy match due to the yellow cards they received, Montella said, "We are very sad, of course, that they will not be there. The characteristics of both are very important for our team. But we will continue and prepare with all our other remaining players. Many of them are perhaps playing at this level for the first time. Therefore, there is no giving up. We know that we represent our country with full responsibility. We will prepare in the best way and try to perform at our best in the remaining matches. Our motivation is always high. Our players may be sad sometimes when you play an equal match and the result is not in your favor, but they must keep their heads held high. Because they fought until the end. They will not be demoralized; we will focus entirely on our work," he explained.